Singing in the Dead of Night
by kyrilu
Summary: Rei confronts Akai outside Touto Aquarium. Set directly after Movie 20: The Darkest Nightmare. Akai/Amuro slash. Mentioned past Akai/Akemi and Amuro/Scotch.


After Akai turned to leave Tohto Aquarium, Rei snapped, " _Don't."_

He said, "You still haven't told me why you saved my life back there."

And Akai only smiled, an infuriating upturn of his mouth, and Rei snarled, grabbed Akai by the shoulder and kissed him, shoving him against one of the trees and holding him in place.

He didn't taste anything like Scotch.

Rei came to himself and recoiled, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

Akai was staring at him with those piercing green eyes. "You," he said, "you have no idea what you're doing, do you, Bourbon?"

"I hate it when you use that tone," Rei said. "Acting distant-haughty-like you know everything, like you don't feel anything."

Rei asked, "Did Akemi's death even mean anything to you?"

He knew it was a cheap shot, but he didn't care.

Akai was silent. Then he said, emotionlessly: "That is a matter between Gin and myself."

"Funny," Rei said. "It's something you and I have in common. We've both vowed to kill long haired, left-handed soulless sons of bitches. Although you've cut your hair now."

" _Don't compare me to him,_ " Akai said, and Rei felt a strange sense of triumph, knowing that he had gotten under Akai's skin.

"You got your girl killed," Rei said coldly, wanting to keep pushing. "Your useless, inept FBI people made a bumbling mistake and your cover was blown, and she died because of you. And Scotch died because of you, too."

"No," Akai said. He looked Rei straight on. "One could say that he died because of you. I told Scotch I was undercover like him and stopped him from shooting himself. When he heard you-the sound of the door-he thought it was another Organization member. He released the trigger."

What-?

Rei was frozen. "You're lying," he said. "You made him shoot himself-!"

"No," Akai said again-and there was a flash of something? regret? no, of course not-on his face. "Do you understand?"

Rei thought he felt something inside of him crumbling, cracking. Akai was a lying bastard. Scotch couldn't have died like that-a misunderstanding, dying for nothing, and it was _his fault_.

It couldn't be true.

Rei didn't know why, but then he remembered: Akai grabbing him from the railing on top of the ferris wheel, stopping him from falling-Akai creating a distraction before Gin could kill him-Akai carefully warning Rei off over the phone-

The urgency of it; it wasn't about rescuing someone who was technically on the same side as you. It wasn't about the basic morality of saving a person's life.

It was something like _Not him, too._

So maybe it was regret. So maybe it was a pathetic grab for forgiveness or repentance.

Rei realized that he was trembling. "Don't think," he said, "don't think I hate you any less."

Akai leaned closer to Rei, prompting him to raise his fists. His voice was quiet. "You really haven't changed. Back in the Organization, you made yourself my self-proclaimed rival. There was no real reason back then to hate me. Bourbon, you always wanted my attention. You wanted me to keeping looking at you. Despite whatever you had with Scotch-"

("You know, Zero, you're too obsessed with that guy!" Scotch had once teased him with a lopsided grin. He had just taught Rei a couple of chords; both of them had their guitars strapped over their shoulders, forgotten half-eaten ham sandwiches from lunch lying beside them.

Several hours earlier, Rei and Rye had an argument over what strategies they should use for the next mission. Rei had been irate and accusatory, while Rye responded, his voice like cool steel, picking apart whatever perceived 'flaws' in Rei's plans.

"I can't stand his attitude," Rei said, his hands idly strumming guitar strings. "He's cold and difficult. High and mighty from his sniper's perch. And one day he's going to kill himself from all that damned canned coffee and cigarettes."

Scotch raised an eyebrow. "That almost sounds like concern."

"Hmmph. It's nothing like that.")

Akai was looking at him now. Rei found his fists falling to the side, and he thought-he didn't know what he thought-

Akai bent down, his hands settling over Rei's wrists like chains, and he kissed him. It wasn't like the angry violence of how Rei had kissed him earlier, but a kind of painful gentleness.

In a semblance of a caress, Akai dragged his fingers through Rei's hair.

When he pulled away, he said, "That was what you wanted, wasn't it?"

"No," Rei said. "It's not."

Akai nodded. He turned away and started walking, and this time Rei did not stop him.

"Another point of resemblance," Akai said, his voice nearly inaudible. "We are still in love with ghosts."

Akai began whistling a melody. Rei closed his eyes and remembered.

He remembered a lull between missions, a brief moment of peace.

They were eating lunch at Scotch's place, and Miyano Akemi had stopped by to see Rye. Then she asked Scotch to play a song on his guitar. Scotch good-naturedly caved in, and he went through her favorite Beatles songs.

Him, playing and her, singing...

Rye and Rei had watched them, fond and silent. For once, they weren't quarreling.

Outside Tohto Aquarium, Rei listened to the fading sound of Akai's whistling. What Beatles song was that?

'Blackbird,' he thought. It was 'Blackbird.'

And, shaking, he laughed.


End file.
